No 6 in Top Texas Laws of 2011 Countdown: Protecting lost adults with the Ambert Alert

Created in response to the daylight abduction of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman from an Arlington parking lot in 1996, the state’s Amber Alert system has spread across the country and beyond as a useful tool for soliciting the public’s help in quickly finding lost or abducted children.

Starting Sept. 1 under HB1075, the state will broaden the Amber Alert umbrella to include allowing its use for cases involving missing adults diagnosed with developmental disabilities, such as Alzheimers and other forms of dementia. “Many would be surprised to learn how common it is for adult caregivers to lose track of their developmentally disabled patients and relatives,” says Jeff Rasansky of the Rasansky Law Firm. “This law will employ the vast resources of the AMBER network to help find these individuals.”

The Amber Alert is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most seriouschild-abduction(and now missing adult) cases. The goal is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.